


Christmas Around Me (And You In My Arms)

by Huntress79



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Christmas Fluff, Engagement, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Romantic Fluff, Soft Supersoldiers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, that starts after Tony's memorial service, two big saps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:28:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21957394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79/pseuds/Huntress79
Summary: Ever since Steve handed the shield and the mantle of Captain America to Sam, he and Bucky have led a peaceful life in Brooklyn. Now, with Christmas just around the corner, both guys want to take their relationship to the next level.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 5
Kudos: 58
Collections: Stucky Secret Santa 2019





	Christmas Around Me (And You In My Arms)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BlueLuna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueLuna/gifts).



> written for the Stucky Secret Santa and BlueLuna. Ignores the final leg of “Endgame” (right after the Stark memorial service) completely. Bruce and Shuri figured out a better way to send the Stones back, while Steve realized where, or better, who his heart really belongs to (finally!). Set about a year after “Endgame”. Title partly borrowed from a song by The Common Linnets. Enjoy!

*********************

Standing at the panorama window of their new apartment, Steve looked out on “his” city, watching thick snowflakes falling from the skies.

Their corner of Brooklyn was rather quiet, but Steve could see the skyscrapers of the city, and he didn’t need a lot of imagination to visualize the bustling streets of Manhattan, people hurrying around to get the last of their Christmas preparations done.

Bucky currently was out there as well, getting the last things they needed, as well as making a short stop at the Avengers Tower. Funny enough, his partner was now the more connected to the “New Avengers” one. Sure, Steve still had the occasional talk to Sam, or Wanda, or Peter, but apart from them, he barely knew more about the other team members than their names.

Which was, surprisingly, okay with him. Sure, it had rankled him a bit in the beginning, but then, both Bucky and Sam reminded him that these new heroes needed to find their footing the same way he had all those years back – on their own, with people supporting them, nothing more, nothing less.

And so, Bucky was their go-to-guy now, maybe because he still possessed the same saint-like patience he had all those eons ago when they were kids and Steve had no patience at all, always ready to start a fight when he still was sporting the signs of the previous one. Besides, considering what he had planned initially after Tony’s memorial service, they were better off with Bucky anyway.

Finally turning away from the window, Steve’s eyes landed on the tree in the corner of the living room, already decorated in a beautiful display of colors. What on Earth had possessed him to think that going back to Peggy would have been the best for everyone involved?

Shaking his head, he sent a “thank you” to the genius brains of both Bruce and Shuri, who had, while he was occupied with trying to find a way to tell Bucky about his plan, put said brains together and figured out a way to send the stones back to their initial place that didn’t involve him or anyone else – they sent a robot to do the job (or were it several, one for every stone? Steve couldn’t remember). In any way, the moment when Bruce and Shuri presented their plan was, more or less, the exact moment where Steve finally knew what he really wanted. Or better, who he wanted.

And that wasn’t Peggy at all – no, it was the man who had seen the potential, the good in Steve when he was just a small, sickly kid who always itched to fight. Who had seen him in every state of mind, be it delirious from fever or so tangled up in his drawings that he almost forgot to eat, if not for Bucky. And therefore, Steve thought while planting the first of many kisses on Bucky’s lips, it was only fair to spend the rest of their lives with said man.

Smiling, Steve finally left the living room and headed over to their bedroom, retrieving a small velvet box from the depths of his art supplies. Bucky knew, of course, that they were there, but he never really gave them more than a cursory glance, usually right before he surprised Steve with some refills for colors, or a set of new pencils.

*********************

Across town, Bucky also had retrieved the last, and in his eyes most important, gift he had for Steve. Sure, they had agreed not to overwhelm each other with a mountain of gifts, but still, he knew that his partner had some smaller gifts for him, just like he had for Steve.

When he dropped by the Tower, handing out some small gifts that had more of a sentimental value than anything else, both Wanda and Sam had given him a box full of Christmas cookies, well knowing of the sweet tooth both supersoldiers had.

Weaving through the crowds around Grand Central, Bucky couldn’t help but smile when he thought (again) of the little velvet box sitting in the inner pocket of his coat. He only hoped that Steve would say yes, giving the independent streak “his” punk just couldn’t shake off (not that said man really tried to, though)

Back when they were meeting for Stark’s memorial service, Bucky would never, ever have thought that it all would end up with him being kissed by Steve. If he was honest, he immediately knew that when Bruce brought up the matter of taking the stones back to their place on the timeline, that he was about to lose Steve to the ghosts of the past, namely Peggy Carter. Bucky would never hold it against her, tough.

But somehow, while Steve was struggling to find a good way to tell Bucky about his plans, Shuri and Bruce cooked up a plan that nullified Steve’s idea in a heartbeat. Bucky couldn’t care less about the hows and whens and whys, especially not when Steve grabbed him and planted a kiss on his lips that turned his knees into jelly.

Standing in the Great Hall of Grand Central, Bucky went through the mental list he made for this last trip to the city before the holidays. Satisfied that he hadn’t forgotten anything, he looked up the train out to Brooklyn and headed down to the tracks to head home at last.

*********************

Several hours later, their neighbourhood resembled a little Winter wonderland. Since the morning, it hadn’t stop snowing at all, covering everything under a glistening white blanket and giving all the outdoor lights a touch of magic.

Inside, Steve and Bucky were ready to open one present (the rest, including their velvet boxes, would have to wait until the morning, as Bucky told Steve a couple of days earlier, much to the latter’s disappointment). They had a nice dinner, with Wanda’s and Sam’s cookies for dessert, the radio was playing softly in the background. The lights on the tree were on, both Alpine, Bucky’s white Persian cat, and Buddy, the Golden Retriever puppy Clint had gifted them with when they moved into the apartment, were sleeping soundly in their respective beds. Long story short, it was the first really peaceful Christmas both men experienced at all.

“Ready for a gift, Stevie?” Bucky called out from his perch in front of the tree, trying to decide which one of his gifts he should give to his lover.

“Yep, in a minute,” Steve’s voice came from the kitchen, where he was preparing them a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. Only a heartbeat (or so) later, he came back to the living room, carrying the cups in one and Wanda’s cookie box in the other. Placing it all on the small table, he joined Bucky at the tree, placed a quick kiss to the other man’s lips, and grabbed a gift as well.

That way, Steve got a drawing tablet that he held in his big hands reverently for quite some time, while Bucky ended up with a new MP3 player, along with a stack of gift cards for various online music shops. Soon after, they finished up their drinks and called it a night.

*********************

The next morning, Bucky woke up with excitement bubbling up inside him. Something he hadn’t experienced for a long, long time.

Though the feeling vanished really quickly and was replaced with something akin to dread when he realized that Steve wasn’t in bed with him. Judging by the cool temperature of the sheets, for quite some time already. Dang it, Bucky thought while getting out of bed and into their bathroom, how on Earth should he make the perfect proposal now? In his mind, he had planned to crowd Steve in on their bed by straddling him, making a small speech about how much the other man meant to him, and finally present him with the ring and the question. But now? Now, Bucky was at a loss.

Over in the kitchen, Steve had heard Bucky’s shuffle to the bathroom, and once he was sure he heard the shower running, went to the living room to get the box before putting the final touches to his Christmas Special breakfast, consisting of fresh brewed coffee, a small basket full with cinnamon bagels, both their favorite jams, and a fine selection of fruits.

At long last, Bucky came into the room, not quite awake yet, if the way he curled in on himself once he was sitting at the table was anything to count for. Turning back to the stove if only to hide his smile, Steve felt his heart grow with love for the other man.

“Morning, Buck, and Merry Christmas,” Steve finally said while bringing a plate with pancakes to the table.

“Morning, Stevie, and Merry Christmas to you too,” Bucky gave back, a soft smile playing around his lips.

“Before we start digging in,” Steve said with a gesture towards the table, “I have something to tell you, Buck.” As if on cue, the other man’s gorgeous pale blue eyes went wide, expecting the worst. “Don’t worry, it’s a good thing, I promise.”

“If you say so, punk,” Bucky groused back, though the soft smile still attached to his lips belied any anger.

“I do, Buck, I do,” Steve replied while pulling the box out of the pocket of his sweat pants. Taking a deep breath, he continued.

“When I woke up in 2012, 7 decades into the future, there were so many things that I learned about. And with about 90 % of it, I knew you would have loved seeing it all with your own eyes. But at that point, you were dead, and only haunting my dreams.” Bucky grabbed his hand at this, squeezing it slightly and reassuring him that way. “Then I found you, which was nothing short of a miracle to me, only to lose you again. And every time we got closer to you, I promised myself I would tell you how I really feel about you, how I always have felt about you. But then, Sam dampened my mood by mentioning the repeated brain wipes and that telling you at that moment might cause kind of an overload upstairs,” he tapped the side of his own head, “so I didn’t say anything.” Steve swallowed, trying to keep the emotions at bay. “Long story short, I had this plan for quite some time now, ever since my suicide mission with the stones got scraped by our resident geniuses.” They both shared a smile at that, both seeing Shuri and Bruce sitting in Tony’s former living room, their heads close to each other.

“And what’s the plan now, Cap?” Bucky asked with a wink, though he already had a hunch. Leave it to them to both come up with the same idea.

“The plan, Sergeant, is to give you a promotion, a life-long one,” Steve answered while getting up from the table and squatting down on one knee in front of Bucky. “James Buchanan Barnes, you have known me more or less my whole life, seen the few good and the many bad sides I have to offer,” he blatantly ignored Bucky’s snort, “and still, you were loyal as a friend, as my second in command, and now as my lover, partner, whatever they call it these days. So I ask you: will you accept the promotion and become my husband in the next year?”

In lieu of a verbal answer, Bucky grabbed Steve by the shoulders, hauled him forwards and gave him a toe-curling kiss – before starting to laugh so hard his whole body shook with it. Try as he might, Steve was momentarily a bit lost.

“What’s so funny, Buck?”

“The… the fact that I had planned to propose to you today as well,” Bucky got out between peals of laughter.

“No way!”

“Yes way. Wait a moment here, I get my proof.” With that, he was out of the kitchen, only to return moments later with a velvet box. “Here,” he held it out.

“Oh Buck, I’m sorry for derailing your plans.”

“Don’t be, punk, not when you do it so beautifully.” Bucky pulled both rings from the boxes, slid the one from his box on Steve’s left ring finger before handing the other one to his fiancée (what a wonderful new word!) and held out his metal left arm.

“You’re sure about that, Buck?”

“Yep, totally sure. And since we don’t get in dangerous situations on a regular basis anymore, the chances that I might lose the whole arm are really slim.”

Convinced, Steve finally put the ring on the finger, and Bucky had to swallow a couple of times to keep his emotions at bay. While the ring he gave Steve was, more or less, in the color scheme of the shield, his new jewelry was a simple silver band, adorned with several pale blue gemstones, making the ring stand out even from all the other metal that was his arm.

“I love you, Steve Rogers,” Bucky finally said, swallowing Steve’s reply with his lips.

*********************

The End

*********************


End file.
